Clayton A. Chan, D.D.S. Founder/Director

About Dr. Chan

Dr. Clayton Chan is a dental educator, trainer and consultant to dentists who span the globe from private practice to leading dental organizations. All attest to Dr. Chan's unique impact in the field of private practice, personal and organizational transformation and development.

Dr. Chan has shared platforms with leading authorities in the areas of occlusion, temporomandibular joint dysfunction, orthodontic/orthopedics and comprehensive restorative and continues to be a leader in advocating the use of objective measuring technologies to bring accountability to the clinical dental practice.

Occlusion Connections™ is designated as an Approved PACE Program Provider by the Academy of General Dentistry. The formal continuing dental education programs of this program provider are accepted by AGD for Fellowship/Mastership and membership maintenance credit. Approval does not imply acceptance by a state or provincial board of dentistry or AGD endorsement. The current term of approval extends from 9/1/2016 to 8/31/2020. Provider ID# 349336.

Welcome to OC

A new understanding is required of today’s dentist to grasp underlying factors that relates clinical dentistry to both the gnathic and neuromuscular principles. This journey is a blended process that brings an in depth understanding with clinical experience. Together with excellence based on honesty, respect, discipline and courage these organic concepts will come together in both skilled clinical application and bio-physiologic science. This is GNM.

Finding a Qualified GNM Dentist

Disclosure:
It is the responsibility of each patient to ask the right questions in order to determine whether a dentist is qualified to meet your particular dental needs. Dentist have varying degrees of knowledge, experience, training and skills. Occlusion Connections™ is not responsible for the diagnostic and clinical decision making that each dentist makes when treating their patients.

The dentist listed on this map have taken varying levels of OC courses. It is your responsibility to determine if each one is qualified to treat and help meet your particular needs.

Patients suffering facial pain, headaches, neck aches, shoulder, and/ or back pain often have to learn to live with the pain.

Some patients have subjective hearing loss, ringing of the ears, dizziness, pain in the ear, a feeling of fullness or pressure in the ears, clicking/ popping of the jaw joints and eye pain. The mouth, teeth and throat may also be affected. When competent clinicians cannot find an organic basis for these symptoms, they often suggest it might be psychogenic.

There is a classification of disease known as Musculoskeletal Dysfunction of the head and neck (MSD). MSD seems totally unrelated to symptoms such as back pain or ear disorders. Yet, correction of this condition may alleviate many medical symptoms; acute or chronic diseases of the ear, nose, throat, head, neck, shoulder and back. The syndrome is medically as well as dentally related.

TMJ/ MSD is a dysfunction of a group of associated muscles, ligaments, nerves and supportive structures that are associated with the temporomandibular joint. Unfortunately, TMJ/ TMD is one of the most misdiagnosed of the medical/ dental conditions. There are two aspects that contributes to this sad phenomenon of misdiagnosis.

First, few doctors including physicians, ENT specialists, dentists, chiropractors, osteopaths, etc. have a comprehensive understanding and perspective in the diagnosis and treatment of TMJ/ MSD.

Secondly, these disorders have many overlapping symptoms which mimic many other conditions such as neurological disorders, ringing and fullness in the ear, headaches, etc.

Misdiagnosis is the rule rather than the exception with MSD.
Patients wander from specialist to specialist, depending on the type of pain and problems they experience.

Symptoms focusing on ear, sinuses, or swallowing problems are referred to the Otolaryngologist.

Limitations of jaw movement are referred to the Orthopedist and or Oral Surgeon.

Persistent head pains are referred to the Neurologist,

Head and neck problems are referred to the Chiropractor, Osteopath, Physical Therapists, Massage Therapist, etc.

As the wanderers are told and retold that there seems to be no organic basis for their pain, that the cause is psychogenic, their anxiety mounts. When physical findings.

Note:A key part of any comprehensive TMD diagnosis is to assess the 6 dimensional “Physiologic” jaw relationship between the maxillary arch and the mandibular arch. (Mounted diagnostic casts is best used so the dentist and patient can see visually the problems in 6 dimensions). Without a clear picture of how these two entities relate in a bio-physiologic manner the clinicians will continue to guess and make recommendations without a clear direction as to how to resolve the problem.